Gryffindor Quidditch Captain
by all continues to be well
Summary: actbw: Alex Wood is faced with the sickening possibility that perhaps he won't be Gryffindor's Quidditch captain.


Never before had there been such a sickening feeling in Alex Wood's stomach when waiting for his Hogwarts letter; even at the age of eleven he wasn't worried about getting it – quite sure that he wasn't a squib. But faced with the letter for his final year he was absolutely shitting himself.

When it came to captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, he could only think of one person who may get it if he didn't – Roxanne. She was a pretty awful leader but she was by far the best of the team and he figured that if by talent alone then she definitely deserved the position.

"I've been practically the deputy captain for the past five years," Alex was saying, moving his scrambled eggs around his plate. He just didn't have the appetite to eat. "I mean, it wasn't an official position but I think everyone respects me." They didn't. "And I'm a better leader than anyone else on the team." This was arguable.

Katie merely smiled at her son, not wanting to get his hopes up just in case. She too was dreading the letter, knowing it could either go swimmingly with vast celebrations and dismissive remarks of, "I knew it," from Oliver, or she would be faced with anger from both her son and husband. She wished so very much that it was the former.

Unfortunately for Katie, her wish would not come true. The owl flew in through the open window of the kitchen, dropping the letter down just short of Alex's egg-heavy plate and then took a perch on the back of the chair. The creature seemed in quite as much concentration on the letter as everyone else in the room.

"Can you feel the badge?" asked Oliver.

Alex didn't reply. He couldn't feel it but his feelings would not be bruised that easily. Tearing open the letter though he couldn't maintain his fantasy any longer – quite clearly the badge was not there.

"Maybe they forgot to put it in. It'll be that bloody Longbottom – absolutely good for nothing."

"Oliver," Katie warned, shooting her husband a look.

"What? He is! He put in the letter though didn't he, Al?"

After a moment's silence Alex's voice could be heard in a whisper of resignation: "There's nothing here - just a list of the books I need for seventh year…"

"Oh, Ally," his mother sighed, hugging him over the back of the chair he sat at. "I'm sorry, love. I know you were looking forward to being captain. You'll still be on the team though – don't get all upset about it."

"I'm not upset." He quite clearly was.

"Don't get upset!?" Oliver meanwhile roared from his end of the table. "It's that bloody Longbottom, I told you, Katie! Always sucking up to Potter! I bet he's given James the position just because he's Harry's son!"

Alex paled at the idea that James had gotten the position. He couldn't think of anyone worse to serve under – they would lose the cup for sure.

"Whoever Neville has picked, I am sure he has his reasons, Oliver," Katie tried to reason but it was impossible; her husband was a very unreasonable man.

"What is his address?" he demanded, "I'm going to go over there now and ask him what on earth he was thinking of doing by putting an idiot like James in charge of the Quidditch team. Does he want Gryffindor to lose?" Oliver had walked out of the room during this but returned not a second later to say in a tone of equal anger, "Where on earth is the floo powder?"

As his parents argued about the merits of storming into the Longbottom residence, Alex sulked off upstairs.

It took the boy three hours to get over his upset. Alex had never been more devastated about anything in his life and as soon as the anguish left him, it was replaced by a steel-hard anger fierce enough to rival Oliver's.

"Where do you think you are going?" his mother asked as he appeared downstairs looking just as ready to murder someone as Oliver did. "You are not going to Neville's house, Alex. I've only just convinced your father not to go there."

"I wasn't going to," he sulked in reply as he tugged on his trainers. "I'm going to Fred's."

Katie stared at her son for a long moment trying to work out if she believed him or not. He looked calm enough but there was that maniac look in his eye that Oliver always had whenever his team was losing in quidditch. She did not trust that look. "Can you promise me, Alex, that you're not going to get into trouble if I let you go out now?"

Alex had to bite back his tongue and tell her that he was seventeen and she couldn't keep him home. He nodded his head instead.

"Fine, but be back before dinner."

And with that Alex disapparated to Holyhead.

When he arrived he wasn't surprised to see that Roxanne wasn't yet dressed despite it being noon already. In fact when she opened the door she was standing in just a gigantic Puddlemere United top (which he assumed belonged to Arnold Williams – Roxanne's current boyfriend – because he knew for sure that she didn't support his team) and some Chudley Canon socks. The sight was rather disturbing mainly due to the two rival teams being worn together.

"You look awful."

"You don't look too peachy yourself, captain," Roxanne yawned groggily, stepping back into her house.

Alex frowned at her back, ignoring his raging hormones which couldn't help but find her retreating figure attractive. He couldn't believe she was taking the piss out of him about this! Calling him captain when she quite clearly knew he hadn't gotten it!

"Don't be a bitch, Weasley, it doesn't suit you," he muttered.

"Alex, you have literally just arrived," Fred groaned, just walking down the stairs as Alex and Roxanne passed them. "Can you give it at least five minutes before you start abusing your new powers?"

"New powers? Fucking hell, Fred, not you too!"

"Not me too?" the half-asleep boy looked confused.

"I don't like being called a bitch!" Roxanne called from the kitchen, but both of the boys ignored her.

Alex shook his head. "You know, Fred, I thought at least you'd be fucking grown up about it. Now who's got it? Rox? You? Oh, fucking hell please tell me it isn't James…"

"Got the captain position?" Fred only looked more confused. "Don't you have it?"

The glare he received told him that no, Alex was not captain.

"Well it isn't me or Rox, mate. Our post arrived hours ago – completely empty except for the lists. I don't think James has it either; he would be around here shoving it all in our faces if he did."

"Who has it then? There's only us four on the team what with Dominique and Hyslop gone."

"Not true," Roxanne said, re-entering the conversation as she passed between them to walk upstairs. It didn't seem to faze her that she had been ignored by these two not a minute before. "Scorpius is on the team, he must have gotten it."

"Oh, fuck off, Rox, like Longbottom would have given the position to him!" Alex growled, furious at the thought but it was the only logical explanation.

Roxanne shrugged. "He must have if none of us have it. Are you done in the bathroom?" the latter part was directed at her brother who told her he was. "Brill. I'm going to have a shower then can you along-side disapparate me to Williams'?"

"I thought he was coming here?" Fred asked.

"Nah, his dad is interviewing some of the Tornados lot so I'm going to go and sit in on it," Roxanne exclaimed. It made sense; the only reason she would willingly leave the house was for quidditch. Fred was pretty sure that the only reason his sister was dating Arnold Williams was because his father was the sports editor for The Daily Prophet – Benjy Williams – and so had a lot of access to a lot of quidditch players.

Alex found that this news only made him feel angrier: he assumed it was the fact that she was going to meet all of the quidditch players though which made him jealous, not that she was going on a date. He was so stuck in his gloom that he hadn't even realised the siblings had left him standing in the hallway; Fred having gone to get dressed and Rox having gone to shower. In their absence, Alex took a seat down in the living room and with a heavy sigh tried to work out how he was going to tell his father that he had missed out the captain position to a fifth year with the surname Malfoy.


End file.
